


Rest

by ncfan



Series: The Second Kinslaying, and Aftermath [6]
Category: TOLKIEN J. R. R. - Works, The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Death, Fall of Doriath, Gen, Second Kinslaying
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-31
Updated: 2013-12-31
Packaged: 2018-01-06 22:02:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 403
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1112018
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ncfan/pseuds/ncfan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"That's them, isn't it?"</p>
            </blockquote>





	Rest

Maedhros left some time during the night, looking for Dior's sons out in the woods. That's all they know. Maedhros left looking for Eluréd and Elurín, and Maglor has sent Amrod and Amras out to look for Maedhros.

"That's… that's them, isn't it?"

What they find is two tiny boys curled up in a hollowed-out tree trunk, frost clinging to their clothes and their little hands, and quite, quite dead.

Amrod steps forwards and gingerly lifts one of the corpses out of the tree trunk. He looks the boy over, and sees fine clothes and a mop of fine, unruly silver hair. "I would say so," he mutters. "Or else some other noble has lost their children." Eluréd, or Elurín, or whoever this is, is cold to the touch; his skin is blue. There's no need to debate the cause of death, at least.

" _Twins_ , though, Ambarussa," Amras presses. They both know—indeed, have good reason to know—just how rare twin births are among the Eldar.

"That settles it, then," Amrod agrees.

The two of them get the other boy out of the tree trunk and lay them down on the snowy ground, side by side. Eluréd and Elurín are indistinguishable from one another, down to their clothes; Amras remembers how their mother would put him and Amrod in identical clothes when they were children, and cracks a sad smile. They don't look particularly like they're sleeping, the way so many describe the dead; their little faces are relaxed, but the touch of death is clear on them both.

"What are we to do with them?"

As it turns out, Amrod and Amras bury the twin princes of Doriath. It's tough going—the ground is frozen solid—but eventually, they manage to dig a shallow grave, where the two boys are laid down side by side. They top the grave with as many rocks and stones as they can find, hoping that this will be enough of a deterrent to wild animals to keep the twins' bodies from being scavenged. Then, they head on, looking for Maedhros.

For reasons they choose to keep to themselves, Amrod and Amras never tell their oldest brother that they found the two he was seeking. The shared grave of Eluréd and Elurín, their final resting place, is swallowed up by the snow, the darkness, and ultimately the tumultuous sea, lost to history, given over to legend.


End file.
